


bona fide

by vindice



Series: everyone knows the stars come out at night [3]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - One Piece Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 16:16:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19088593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vindice/pseuds/vindice
Summary: Skull just wanted to get the fucking marines off his back.Luckily for him, Verde is a very curious merman.





	bona fide

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eeveepkmnfan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eeveepkmnfan/gifts).



> **Day 8: Earth/Flameless Day:** Accidental Murder | **Mermaid/Pirate** of the _KHR Rarepair Week 2019_
> 
> (I’m gifting this to Eevee because their amazing hard work brought us [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17977922), and they’re one of the kindest, most wonderful people I’ve found here.)

Skull makes an abrupt turn on the closest alley he finds, letting out a curse when he notices it’s a dead end. Still, he doesn’t falter in his steps. Using a couple of boxes as boost comes as second nature, and before he knows it he’s vaulting himself over the wall to cross to the street behind, not waiting around for his pursuers to find him.

He jumps over a couple of trash bags getting on the way, the end of his sash a purple blur around his hips, swaying with the impulse. His heart beats beats beats, adrenaline pumping through his veins, and he can’t help but laugh, a little hysterically for the seastone they shot him with is slowly kicking in, and a little excited, because as much as it is a pain in the ass to have the Marines hot on his tail, he hasn’t had anything remotely close to the kind of rush his sparring sessions with Fong bring, and the last time they trained was back before the crew got separated in Sabaody.

He could easily get rid of them, turn into his phoenix and his Devil Fruit powers would easily take care of the problem. It’s just for Tsuna’s sanity that he doesn’t want to attract too much attention, and it wouldn’t do for him to expose himself when he could just as easily stay in this island and lay low and enjoy the peace (sea _knows_ how long overdue and well deserved it would be) while he waits for any of the others to deign themselves to show signs of life.

 _Focus_ , he tells himself when he nearly runs into a tree, vision blurring and making him groan in resignation.

The next turn he takes lands him on the docks, right where he had arrived two days ago, and he can see the merchant ship that took him in. Skull considers for a fleeting moment before dismissing the idea as soon as it comes, fingers slightly numb and eyelids getting heavier by the minute, shaking his head. He’s a pirate, not an asshole, he won’t put in danger all these people who showed him kindness when he needed it most, hands tied in seastone cuffs and bleeding out from unhealing wounds, when they could have easily thrown him off the ship or turned him in to the marines instead of destroying said cuffs, taking care of his wounds and feeding him.

Everyone knows his face. It’s in nearly every island the marines can get their hands on, right along every single one of his nakamas. His bounty is one of the highest in the Arcobaleno Pirates; almost anyone would want to get their hands on such a prize.

Almost.

He runs in the other direction, where he remembers the jungle is and he knows he’ll blend in easily. He can hear noise and shouting behind him but he doesn’t look back. He’s not sure if it is just the fishermen barking out orders or if the marines finally caught up to him, but he’s not going to stay around and find out.

He still needs to take care of the goddamn bullet stuck on his shoulder. It won’t kill him, — it never does, his body still regenerating on its own even without help of his phoenix, — but it’s an annoyance he’d prefer to get rid of as soon as possible.

Skull only makes it further enough into the forest that the tree lines cover his figure before everything goes black.

 

* * *

 

When he comes to, he’s not where he last remembers.

He stares dazedly at the ceiling over him, the _drip, drip, drip_ of drops echoing in his ears. There’s the sound of a current of air, as if he was in an enclosed space. It makes sense, he thinks, between the cotton-like effect still clouding his mind. He must be in some cave of a sort.

“Ah,” a voice he doesn’t recognize says, startling him out of his thoughts. “You’re awake now, I see.”

For someone who could have been taken captive, Skull is oddly calm. He takes a deep breath and feels, takes his body into account. His shoulder is healed, but he feels as close to drowsy as he gets, so it must have not been too long ago since it did. Nothing’s missing as far as he can tell, past what he knows is a momentary numbness weighing down on him like lead. Other than the tiredness, he seems to be okay.

His head lolls to the side, where the voice came from, and he sees a person a few feet away, looking up at him from his place in the water.

A merman, to be precise.

Well then.

They’re in an underground lake, maybe. Light filters through an unseen source, allowing him to see the man more clearly. He has deep green hair, slicked back as if he had been running his hands through it not too long ago, probably to get it out of the way when he emerged from the water, or so Skull assumes. His eyes are alluringly dark and intent, and they manage to come across as both faintly curious and fairly uninterested. There are jade colored scales that shine in the dim lighting of the cave scattered over his arms and neck and across his chest, and there’s an ethereal beauty to his person that comes with the gleam that bounces from the water surrounding him, reflecting on them.

Skull feels his eyebrows raise in intrigue. _Pretty_.

“Hello,” Skull says, because he’s not a heathen. His throat feels like sandpaper. “Where am I?”

“You’re still in Cozia. You’re just in the mountain range,” the merman says. He looks him up and down, before pointing at something past his head. Skull twists a little and is gratified to find a couple of water bottles, still sealed. “I was on my way back from town,” his companion explains. “When you just... tilted forward and collapsed.” Skull tries not to look too desperate while drinking water. The last thing he wants is to choke and make an even bigger fool of himself than he probably already is in front of the attractive merman. “I took a look at your shoulder while you were out.”

When he’s done drinking, he moves again, and when he can feel all his limbs without the usual heaviness that comes with seastone, he sits up slowly and stretches his arms over his head.

“Oh,” Skull says, accepting the explanation. “Thanks for the save.”

The merman folds his arms in front of him, puts his head in one of his hands, leaning forward. The water moves in ripples around him, its reflection dancing on his skin, and Skull feels a little breathless, a little dazed.

“You don’t look surprised.”

He frowns in confusion. “About what?”

“About a merman rescuing you.”

 _Ah,_ Skull thinks. A soft, wistful smile settling on his lips.

“I had a friend once,” it’s all he offers. The memory of Cozart is now an ever present nostalgic pang, instead of the everlasting phantom ache that used to choke him. “I’m Skull. Thank you for helping me.”

The merman tilts his head a little, seems to contemplate something.

“Verde,” he says, and there’s something challenging in his almost blank gaze that dares Skull to say anything about it. But Skull just grins at him, feeling lighter and better and not as much as though his stomach is flipped upside down thanks to the poison on his system.

“A pleasure to meet you, Verde.” Skull says and means it, and when the merman looks him in a way Skull is well acquainted with, as if he’s reconsidering his whole opinion of him, Skull doesn’t have the heart to be offended for once. There’s little to nothing good to be said about pirates in the Four Blues, and the whole goth look does give way for bad first impressions in the part of the world where most people are seized off on looks and reputation.

“Say, Verde,” Skull hums, standing up. There’s something about the merman that calls to him, like a tide pull, and if he’s learnt something from both his Devil Fruit and Tsuna is to listen to his instincts and follow his heart. “Have you ever been friends with a pirate crew?”  
  
Friendship is more of a formality, really. After all, Verde was nice enough as to get him to what could most likely be his hideout, or one of them if nothing else. Otherwise he’d have pulled a Reborn and hauled him right into nakamaship without any warnings; though, he has a feeling, Verde is the type to drag instead of being dragged. And it’s not like Tsuna will mind — one look at Verde and he will hoard him, Skull can already see it, much like he did with most of them.

He can’t get himself to feel any remorse when Verde’s lip curls up almost unnoticeably, in tentative amusement. _Ah,_ _he’s already sensing something, too._

Skull grins right back at Verde. He’s found quite a catch, he bets.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you noticed: yes, pun intended. Skull is the kind of person who would make fun and joke about anyone’s and everyone’s powers, his own included. Not one soul is safe with him.
> 
> Also? he’s the same lovable adrenaline junkie here as he’s in canon (or was, before the curse took even being a stuntman from him.) 
> 
> Hope you guys liked! Let me know your thoughts!


End file.
